Once we become adults, responsibility can easily take over our lives. When we were children, we pursued fun activities that we enjoyed. If we’re not careful, though, adult life and routine can take over. This new series is here to encourage you to find what you love, or have always wanted to try, and go for it.
If you’ve been an avid reader all your life, or only discovered how much you enjoyed reading once you were out of school (like me), you’re not alone. We often read alone, but reading doesn’t have to be a solitary activity. There are book clubs out there for all genres and readers.
One group in Niverville gets together once a month in the basement of the United Church (though the club itself is not religious). The group, led by Maureen Hildebrand-Gilroyed, meets every first Monday of the month to discuss a book that was suggested the month prior. The club focuses on fiction, but books can be anything from historical to romance… and there have even been a couple of science fiction entries in recent years.
So far only women have attended the club, but men are more than welcome—even encouraged!—to join.
“We are very respectful and tolerant to each other,” says Hildebrand-Gilroyed. “You do not need to have read the book or finished the book—sometimes people say that helps motivate them to read/finish the book, other times (when we don’t like it) we are okay not to read/finish.”
Residents of Ritchot have access to two book clubs run by employees of the Ritchot Library, one in Île-des-Chênes and the other in Ste. Agathe. They meet on the last Wednesday of every month.
The Île-des-Chênes club meets regularly at the Capo di Grande coffeehouse.
“We generally take turns choosing books of interest to us, fiction mostly,” says Library Director Michelle McEwan.
If you don’t have time to read a book every month, that’s okay too. The point of most book clubs is getting out of your house and connecting with people who have similar interests. This holds true even if you’ve only read half the book.
There’s no “one way” to run a book club, naturally, so people also have the option of starting their own clubs and reading groups. For example, I hosted a non-fiction book club out of my home a few years back. The group met every week to discuss one chapter of our book, so it took us 18 weeks to complete it. Someone always brought dessert while we sipped on tea or coffee.
So what’s the bottom line? A book club can be whatever you make of it, and oftentimes it’s a perfect excuse to socialize with other adults. Who said kids get to have all the fun?
